OUR TEAM
JEFF SIMONETTI
CEO & FOUNDER
Jeff Simonetti is the CEO & Founder of the Aqua Exchange, a firm that specializes in water transaction consulting and execution. His firm has a variety of clients that he assists in buying and selling water including master planned communities, large agricultural operators and groundwater sustainability agencies.
Simonetti has more than two decades of experience developing public policy and governments affairs strategies, particularly in the land-use, environmental, and water arenas. He enjoys strong relationships with elected officials and agency leaders at the local, state and federal levels of government.
Prior to founding the Aqua Exchange, Jeff was the Director of Government Affairs for the Building Industry Association Baldy View Chapter, a residential real estate trade association in Southern California. There Jeff provided advocacy and consulting on a variety of issues including water, greenhouse gas emissions regulations and state and local regulatory fees associated with homebuilding. Jeff is also currently a Senior Vice President at the Capitol Core Group, an advocacy firm that provides clients advocacy services at the federal, state and local levels. Capitol Core’s areas of expertise include water, infrastructure, renewable energy and land use.
Simonetti earned a bachelor’s degree in politics, philosophy and economics from Claremont McKenna College and a master’s degree in finance and entrepreneurship from Boston University.
TODD TATUM
SENIOR CONSULTANT
Todd Tatum has extensive experience in government, water development and policy, and land use. He works with water districts, local governments and agencies seeking to enhance their water supplies and build water resource infrastructure. In short, Tatum locates, secures and structures the most economical transfer and exchange agreements. His efforts have resulted in the completion of over one million acre-feet of both permanent entitlement and “wet water” transfers.
Tatum’s career began as a Congressional staffer in the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1989, he joined the family business in land-use development. He has led one of the fastest-growing homebuilding companies in the nation, overseeing the entitlement, development and construction of more than 4,000 single-family homes.
Tatum graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor’s degree in Government and has served on a number of public and private boards, including the Mojave Desert Resource Conservation District, President of the Building Industry Association Baldy View Chapter and the 28th District Agricultural Association (San Bernardino County Fair Board).